Is it appropriate at work?

It'd be a pretty dull day at the office if no one ever cracked a dirty joke.

But, some say, years of zero tolerance sexual harassment policies in the workplace have produced a frigid climate where everyone has to check their sexual beings at the reception desk (without making an inappropriate comment to the receptionist, of course).

Well, a new study has broken the ice...sort of.

Researchers at University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management and the University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Management discovered that some employees say they actually, gasp, enjoy the occasional sexually charged joke, discussions of sexual matters or flirtation around the office.

But before you go patting your coworker on the butt, the study also found that the same workers who said they enjoyed a some sexual banter in the workplace also withdrew from work, felt less valued and reported depressive symptoms more often than employees who experienced little to no sexual behavior at the office.

In other words, a little sexual innuendo might be good for a laugh, but it's lousy for morale and productivity.

'In our culture, sexuality has connotations of domination, subordinance and vulnerability,' said Professor Jennifer Berdahl, coauthor of the study. 'Often a dominating behaviour is a way of making someone squirmy. Why bring this into the workplace?' Considering how quickly most dinner party conversation eventually gets around to the topic of sex, it's unrealistic to think that people who spend 8-12 hours a day together aren't ever going to go there.

But you only have to watch an episode of Mad Men to see how bad things things might still be if we hadn't put on the brakes. Sexual harassment laws did much to eliminate the day when it was okay to make 'bosom' cracks in front of your female secretary.

Sure, harassment laws can be applied overly zealously - using them to stop a man from putting a picture of his wife in a bikini on his desk, something that apparently happened somewhere in the US, for example. But, as far as I'm concerned, as long as men and women are too daft to recognize behaviour that makes another person squirmy, we still need rules to keep the workplace from feeling like a singles' bar or, even a dinner party.

And no, I don't think that's funny.

Employers fire mothers-to-be

I was reading The Toronto Star this morning while having coffee, and I came across this article, I thought i'd share it with you

Recession used as excuse for surge in pink slips

Human rights advocates are seeing an alarming surge in cases of pregnant women being fired by "Neanderthal" employers across Ontario, who claim hard times are the cause.

What's especially stunning, they say, is how brazen some bosses are, almost 50 years after Ontario enacted the Human Rights Code to prevent such discrimination.

"We actually have an email from one employer saying, `Sorry, but with your little bundle, I don't think we'll be able to (re)hire you. We want a permanent solution,'" says Consuelo Rubio, manager of client services for Ontario's Human Rights Legal Support Centre, an independent agency funded by the province to provide free legal services to people experiencing discrimination.

The firings are in all sectors: "It's happening to women in senior positions and women in minimum-wage jobs," says Katherine Laird, executive director of the centre, who says she hasn't seen this level of discrimination through two previous recessions and 30 years in the human rights field.

"It's outrageous and illegal," Laird says.

The spike in calls from pregnant women who are frightened for their jobs, can't nail down return-to-work dates or have been told there will be no job waiting for them at the end of their maternity leave, started last fall. But they hit "nightmare" levels in January, says Rubio, and are now averaging 10 to 15 calls a week – accounting for about 10 per cent of all calls from workers inquiring about their rights.

"I thought I was the only person this was happening to," says Brandi Mather, 21, a housekeeper at an Orillia hotel who was laid off Jan. 19, ostensibly because of a lack of work. She later learned her boss had overhead co-workers talking about her pregnancy. Mather had hoped to return to work this month, but found out a replacement worker had been hired in the meantime.

Her boss was quite upfront, saying it was because of the pregnancy. But the boss backtracked when she realized Mather had checked out her legal rights and then said it was because her work was shoddy.

Most firings seem to occur soon after women announce they are pregnant, says Rubio. That puts women's maternity leave benefits at risk, since to qualify for full benefits they must work 600 hours within the 52 weeks before filing.

"I need 435 more hours," says Mather, who also has a 2-year-old daughter and had been working part-time while studying to be a pharmacy assistant. Her pregnancy is starting to show, which has made it impossible to get another job.

"I don't want to go on welfare, but if that's what I have to do, that's what I have to do. I've tried really hard not to do that because I know there are other people who need it."

Until Dec. 4, dental assistant Ann Dunn split her work week between two dentists, one in Courtice and one in Bowmanville. At 10 a.m. she told the Bowmanville dentist she was pregnant. A few hours later she was given a $300 gift certificate to The Bay and told her one-day-a-week job was over.

To her gratitude, the other dentist was so shocked by the move he took her on staff early enough before her son, Michael, was born April 1 to allow her to qualify for maternity benefits. She's filed a claim with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal and is seeking $10,000 in damages.

"If he had said to me, `Things are getting slow in the office and we don't have a lot of hours. Just finish off your three months,' I would have said, `That's fine.' But I didn't have that option. The only option I had was the gift card."

The dentist hired a replacement.

The centre is also hearing from pregnant women who work on commission but simply aren't being given any work or sales calls to make.

"Employers are crying about the recession and saying, `This is so terrible for us,'" says Rubio. "Well, what about all these workers who are going through the financial crisis too? The recession is not only affecting employers, it's affecting mothers with children, it's affecting disabled people – even more so because a lot of these people can be even more vulnerable financially."

The centre is also fielding more calls from injured workers and disabled people – who have always accounted for the vast majority of inquiries – and are seeing troubling signs on that front as well, especially among people who work for hard-hit auto-parts manufacturers, some of them unionized shops.

Human-rights advocates are investigating a Peterborough firm that produces car bumpers and other plastic parts. It laid off 18 workers back in January – every one of whom had at some point claimed disability benefits or were on modified work assignments to allow them to do less strenuous work to cope with their injury.

Meanwhile, 18 "healthy" workers were called back from layoffs.

"The Human Rights Code is supposed to be about recognizing the worth and dignity of every person – and sometimes the real test of an employer's commitment comes when economic times are tough," says Kate Sellar, a lawyer with the centre.

"Bad economic times aren't a licence for employers to discriminate against pregnant women and workers with disabilities."

Have you heard this one...

Sexual jokes at work maybe fun for some, but hurt morale


Flirting or telling a lewd joke around the water cooler may win you popularity points with some of your co-workers, but such behaviour actually lowers overall workplace morale, Canadian researchers say.

A study that included nearly 300 subjects found that 60 per cent of respondents experienced some form of sexual behaviour -- such as flirting, sexual jokes or sexual innuendo -- in the workplace.

About one quarter of those employees said they viewed such behaviour positively.

However, regardless of whether employees enjoyed a little sexually-charged banter, workers were more likely to withdraw from work, feel depressed or feel less valued simply by being exposed to sexual behaviour.

The findings were largely replicated in a second survey of more than 1,000 subjects.

The results surprised the researchers, according to study co-author Jennifer Berdahl, who expected to find negative psychological effects only among those who did not enjoy such behaviour.

"We were expecting that people who enjoyed this behaviour at work and experienced it frequently would show some kind of a bounce," Berdahl said on CTV.ca. "You would think that something that is enjoyed and experienced frequently would also help improve things, like your commitment to your job, feeling valued at work or social bonding with your co-workers."

Berdahl, an associate professor of organizational behaviour at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, conducted the research alongside Karl Aquino of the University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business.

According to Berdahl, even if some co-workers enjoy sexual behaviour, the attitudes of their less-receptive colleagues could bring down overall workplace morale.

Moreover, sexual behaviour could act almost as a "stealth poison," whereby it negatively impacts workers indirectly or on a subconscious level.

"We thought that if this is just inappropriate behaviour, even if it's fun or flattering, it could serve as a sort of stealth poison. That is, directly but at a subconscious or implicit level, negatively affecting people by bringing up themes of dominance and submission or vulnerability and shame," Berdahl said.

"Sexuality is a very private matter. You don't know what people's histories are or what it's evoking for them when a sexual joke is told in the workplace."

Indeed, the themes of dominance or shame are supported when the statistics are divided along gender lines.

The researchers found that about half of men reported enjoying such behaviour, compared to only 10 per cent of women.

That was of little surprise to the researchers, who wrote in their paper that men are still more likely to be in positions of power within the workplace, including being in more senior jobs, being held in higher esteem by co-workers and earning more money.

"So basically, the less powerful you feel and the less you feel like you can retaliate or respond without incurring more harm, the more negative the experience is going to be," Berdahl said. "And so I think that's why we find those differences between men's and women's appraisals of the events."

On the flip side, the findings also flouted the male stereotype that men like to engage in so-called locker-room talk -- tales of their sexual exploits.

The study also found that men did not like it when other men engaged in sexual behaviour around them.

"I think a lot of people assume that, 'well, if it's just us guys, anything goes,'" Berdahl said.

Despite the fact that only a minority of employees surveyed enjoyed sexual behaviour at work and that such behaviour led to overall low morale, the findings do not suggest that management should be policing conversation in the workplace, Berdahl said.

"I think it's just more sage advice for all employees in the workplace that unless you know the person really well and are absolutely certain that this is not going to offend or trigger anything negative in them, why bring it up in the workplace?" she said. "What place does it have there?"

So what's your excuse?

Twelve amusing excuses for being late to work

There is no worse feeling than waking up in the morning, rested from good night's sleep, and glancing at the clock, only to do a double-take: You're late!

For most people, knowing they're running late for work strikes the fear of God within them and as a result, they move like there's a fire under their feet to get ready. They hustle, scramble, frantically throw things into a bag and are out the door to ensure a timely -- though unkempt and graceless -- arrival at the office.

But for a smaller group people, knowing they are running late for work does absolutely nothing except stimulate their creative juices in order to make up the latest excuse as to why they are late for work -- again.

Twenty percent of workers said they arrive late to work at least once a week, This according to a February 2009 CareerBuilder.com survey of more than 8,000 workers. Twelve percent said they are late at least twice a week.

One-third (33 percent) of workers blamed traffic for their tardiness, while 24 percent said lack of sleep was the culprit. Ten percent of workers said getting their kids ready for school or day care was the main reason they ran late in the morning. Other common reasons included public transportation, wardrobe issues or dealing with pets.

"While some employers tend to be more lenient with worker punctuality, 30 percent say they have terminated an employee for being late," said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder.com.

"Workers need to understand their company's policies on tardiness and if they are late, make sure they openly communicate with their managers. Employers have heard every excuse in the book, so honesty is the best policy."

Use your imagination

If you've decided honesty is not the best policy for you, don't try using any of the following excuses as the reason why you're late -- they've been heard before.

Here are 12 of the most outrageous excuses employees have heard for being late to work:

1. My heat was shut off so I had to stay home to keep my snake warm.

2. My husband thinks it's funny to hide my car keys before he goes to work.

3. I walked into a spider web on the way out the door and couldn't find the spider, so I had to go inside and shower again.

4. I got locked in my trunk by my son.

5. My left turn signal was out so I had to make all right turns to get to work.

6. A gurney fell out of an ambulance and delayed traffic.

7. I was attacked by a raccoon and had to stop by the hospital to make sure it wasn't rabid.

8. I feel like I'm in everyone's way if I show up on time.

9. My father didn't wake me up.

10. A groundhog bit my bike tire and made it flat.

11. My driveway washed away in the rain last night.

12. I had to go to bingo.

Follow the culture

The general rule is that you should be in your desk, working by your designated starting time. Technically, even if you're at your desk "on time" but you're still booting up your computer, saying your hellos and making a cup of coffee -- you're late.

Though you should always try your best to be punctual every morning, sometimes it's safe to observe the company culture. If you arrive to work every morning to find all of your colleagues diligently working while you shuffle in on your own accord, your tardiness will probably stand out. On the other hand, if most people filter in at their own paces -- within reason -- an occasional late arrival will probably go unnoticed.

To be on the safe side, try your best to be on time for work every day. Your boss, co-workers and reputation will thank you for it.

spot work-at-home scams

Can you tell the real opportunities from the cons? Here's how you can dodge the scammers.

In this troubling economy, we could all use a little bit of extra cash right? Want to earn some extra money for simple tasks like stuffing envelopes, assembling products or processing insurance claims? How would you like to earn hundreds of dollars per week -- or even a six figure income per year -- from the comfort of your own home?

There's a reason offers like these sound too good to be true. Work-at-home scams are a pervasive subset of employment scams, and money and time aren't the only things you need to worry about losing. According to the Better Business Bureau, you could also be hurting your reputation by selling sub-standard (or non-existent) products and services to others. Worst yet, you could face legal action for perpetuating a fraud or being involved in an illegal pyramid scheme. You could also become a victim of identity theft if you've given out personal or financial information.

There are legitimate opportunities out there, but to protect yourself you need to spot the scams.

Here's what you need to watch out for:

Known scams. There are certain opportunities you should automatically be suspicious of because they're known scams (or scams imitating real opportunities). Typical cons include assembling products, addressing or stuffing envelops, mailing out marketing materials, chain letters, processing medical or insurance claims, forwarding cash or goods and data entry. In more recent years, other ploys like paid survey sites and freelance opportunities that don't deliver have joined the mix -- and they're harder to spot because they mimic legitimate services.

"Work from home" is the title. According to experts, scams target people for whom a work at home arrangement would be convenient -- such as seniors, people with disabilities and stay-at-home moms. Fraudulent ads often focus on the convenience factor but are short on essential details like what the position is, what tasks are involved and for whom you will be working.

"No experience necessary". Another favourite target of scammers is people who think they don't have the skills or experience to get a good job. A job that requires no skills or previous experience is therefore appealing. However, legitimate postings will list required skills and qualifications -- and you'll have to submit a resume.

Too-good-to-be-true promises. Scammers are looking for people who dream of a "get rich quick" solution. The reality is that companies can't stay in business by paying hundreds or thousands of dollars for a few hours of work each week. What out for claims that simply aren't financially sound, and always remember the saying "If it sounds too good to be true...It probably is"

A machine could do it better. Consider: major companies use machines -- not people -- to stuff envelops and assemble products because it's cheaper and more efficient. Envelop stuffing and product assembly are two of the oldest schemes around.

Paying for more information. Do you have to call a 900 number for more details, or pay for a list of companies that hire home workers? You should be able to get more information about the position without having to pay for it.

Payment is required up front for materials, instructions, training or equipment. Most work at home scams are schemes designed to make you pay a fee upfront or to sell you something -- whether it's materials to assemble products, "essential" equipment or software, training materials or access to special websites and databases. Also, beware of any "good faith" payments or requests for you to handle cash. In general, a new job shouldn't cost you money, and you shouldn't have to purchase anything from your new employer.

Promises of guaranteed customers or a market for your work. While it's true that certain skills and jobs are in demand, don't take the posting's word for it. Ask for proof. Is there research to back up their claims? Can you talk to references and clients to verify their testimonials? Is the information supported by current job trends?

Questionable sources. Did the opportunity come to you as junk mail or spam? Companies with real jobs to offer don't need to resort to these means to get attention. They'll advertise on their own websites and through ads in legitimate services.

"Sponsored ads" and internet search results are also suspect. Ad servers and search engines are automated processes that don't distinguish between what's real and what isn't. Experts agree that it's best to take a "buyer beware" approach.

Beware of the latest tricks

Scammers know that you're probably aware of the classic warning signs, so the cons are getting more elaborate and complex. Some of the latest tactics you might see include:

Questionable endorsements and experts. Don't get taken in by pictures, voices, names and signatures of "real people". Endorsements, testimonials, experts and company executives can be fabricated -- and stock photography makes it easy to put a face on the fraud. Just because a company executive, expert or "satisfied customer" is featured on a website doesn't mean that person exists.

False reviews. In addition to paid or placed reviews, there are a variety of websites out there that claim to have completed "extensive research" or "hundreds of evaluations" on work-at-home opportunities. Their results claim that "95 to 97 per cent of all opportunities are scams", but they have been able to find the two or three that are legitimate. You're invited to try them for yourself, and even sign up for a "free report" or newsletter.

What these websites are really doing is sending you specific websites and services -- and someone on the back end is earning a fee or commission. The companies and services look like they've been vetted, but you don't know who is making the judgements. Those free reports and newsletters could be an attempt to get your personal information.

Questionable awards and endorsements. Fake review and company websites try to make themselves look legitimate by posting awards and recommendations that don't exist. Claims like "Voted #1 review site" or "the leading site for work at home jobs" are meaningless if the organization they're from isn't reputable or well-known, or the claims aren't backed up by industry research.

The same applies for those "trusted site" seals. Consider: who did the evaluation, what authority do they have and what criteria did they use? The process should be transparent in order to mean something to users. For instance, there are strict rules governing accreditation from organizations that matter, like the Better Business Bureau, and those rules are outlined on those organizations' websites.

As seen on... Everyone loves good press coverage, but that too can be faked. It's easy to copy and paste logos from popular media sources, but if you visited those sources could you find the article? A link should be provided, and you should be able to find the reference by searching the publication's archives.

Protect yourself

Other than knowing the signs, there are a couple of simple steps you can take to protect yourself.

- Evaluate offers carefully. There are legitimate offers out there, but scammers rely on people not looking closely enough or asking the right questions. Look for inconsistencies and watch out for missing or incomplete information. Make sure you get the full details of any offer in writing.

- Research the company. Whether you're applying directly to a company or considering a staffing agency, you should get a reliability report from the BBB and look for other sources of information like press releases and articles in credible publications. At the very least, the company's contact information should be posted on their website, and you should be able to verify it with an outside source like a phone book or 411.ca.

- Ask who is accountable. Content and opportunities don't just appear out of nowhere. Who is responsible for the information? (Or conversely, who would get in trouble if there was a problem?) If you can't figure out who "is behind the curtain" then chances are they don't want to be found -- and there's a reason that!

- Use tried-and-true ways of finding a job. Perhaps the best strategy of all is to ignore the ads, the emails and the websites and stick with reliable job search strategies and resources. Update your resume and network. Let people know you're looking for work. You never know where a lead will come from.

Ultimately, it's up to you to sift through the ads and opportunities to sort out the real ones. For some suggestions on how to get started, Here are some other great sources:

BBB Alert: Work-at-home schemes

CareerBuilder.ca: Work at Home Scams

Ministry of Justice and Attorney General (Saskatchewan): Work-at-home Schemes (pdf)

National Consumers League Internet Fraud Watch

Scambusters.org

Canon tells workers to have more sex

Workers urged: Go home and multiply

Even before one reaches the front door of Canon's headquarters in Tokyo, one can sense the virtual stampede of employees pouring out of the building exactly at 5:30 p.m.

In a country where 12-hour workdays are common, the electronics giant has taken to letting its employees leave early twice a week for a rather unusual reason: to encourage them to have more babies.

"Canon has a very strong birth planning program," says the company's spokesman Hiroshi Yoshinaga. "Sending workers home early to be with their families is a part of it."

Japan in the midst of an unprecedented recession, so corporations are being asked to work toward fixing another major problem: the country's low birthrate.

At 1.34, the birthrate is well below the 2.0 needed to maintain Japan's population, according to the country's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Keidanren, Japan's largest business group, with 1,300 major international corporations as members, has issued a plea to its members to let workers go home early to spend time with their families and help Japan with its pressing social problem.

One reason for the low birth rate is the 12-hour workday (unless you have workers going into the supply closet for quickies regularly during the workday..but that's another story) But there are several other factors compounding the problem -- among them, the high cost of living, and social rigidity toward women and parenting.

In addition, Japan's population is aging at a faster pace than any other country in the world.

Analysts say the world's second-largest economy faces its greatest threat from its own social problems, rather than outside forces. The country desperately needs to make some fixes to its current social and work structures, sociologists say.

Canon says its 5:30 p.m. lights-out program is one simple step toward helping address the population problem. It also has an added benefit: Amid the global economic downturn the company can slash overtime across the board twice a week.

"It's great that we can go home early and not feel ashamed," said employee Miwa Iwasaki.

Plus, they can have sex more often. Lets not forget that...

Multitasking destroys your ability to focus

"Multitasking messes with the brain in several ways. At the most basic level, the mental balancing acts that it requires — the constant switching and pivoting — energize regions of the brain that specialize in visual processing and physical coordination and simultaneously
appear to shortchange some of the higher areas related to memory and learning. We concentrate on the act of concentration at the expense of whatever it is that we’re supposed to be concentrating on… studies find that multitasking boosts the level of stress-related hormones such
as cortisol and adrenaline and wears down our systems through biochemical friction, prematurely aging us. In the short term, the confusion, fatigue, and chaos merely hamper our ability to focus and
analyze, but in the long term, they may cause it to atrophy."

Woman wants to get her resume off her chest

In this brutal economic time with the bleak job market, people are finding themselves out of work in increasing numbers, for the few job openings that do become available, you really have to stand out above everyone else if you expect to land one of the few coveted positions, it's no longer just "how many candidates do we have for this opening?" or just sending in your resume and application, hoping for a call back, employers are now looking to see "who wants it the most? who's willing to show me they'll do what it takes it get this job? who'll go that extra mile?" What are some ways people have chosen to stand out above everyone else in the crowd?

Take the example of Kelly Kinney, a 29 year old former Marketing professional from Los Angeles California.



Kelly had been working on and off for almost a year decided to tape her resume on her body and stand in front of coffee shops in Los Angeles hoping someone will like her resume and call her for an interview.

The twenty-nine year old former marketing professional said that since September she has been applying for about 40 jobs a day and “It’s just sort of feels like my resume is going into a giant stack with everybody else’s…..it’s extremely frustrating, you get to the point where you say, what’s is going on, what else can I be doing?”

Kinney said she got the idea to put her resume on her shirt from a guy wearing a T-shirt that read “Unemployed”

The credentials on the white T-shirt are listed below a boldface heading: "I NEED A JOB!"

Look at her from the front and you can read the 29-year-old marketing professional's resume. Check her out from behind and you can read the cover letter. Kinney needs a job.

"Publicity is something I have always been good at and basically, the name of the game is how you can get noticed, how you can distinguish yourself from everybody else," she said.

Kinney moved to Valencia, California, about a year ago as her company in Dayton, Ohio, downsized. She worked remotely for her old employer until October, and has been looking for a full-time position for more than a year now, but says she can't even get in the door for an interview.

Since mid-September, she's been applying to an average of 40 jobs a day, but, she said, "it just sort of feels like my resume is going into a giant stack with everybody else's."

The unemployment rate in the Los Angeles area was at 8.2 percent for October, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A check of employment Web sites found about 10,000 listings for marketing jobs in Southern California.

Potential employers have often told her she is one of 500 other applicants.

"It's extremely frustrating," Kinney said. "You get to the point where you say, 'What is going on? What else can I be doing?'

Kinney said she chooses coffee bars and intersections because they are places where she can find a captive audience -- prospective employers stuck waiting for lattes or red lights. Some people have called her "gimmick" really clever; others ask if she feels ashamed, she said. Kinney is tenacious. While the T-shirt idea is her latest promotion, she also posted her resume on her car window and sent postcards to potential employers -- all in the hope one will believe in her. "If I can sell myself this well, I can sell your company this well as well," she said. She said she has had offers. One was pulled after the employer said they thought she was over-qualified, she said. She rejected a marketing assistant position paying about California's $8-an-hour minimum wage, because the pay was too low. "I have a family; I can't take a $10-an-hour job and still stay afloat." Her husband does have a job, but one salary is not enough to cover the high cost of living in California for a family of three, she said. And it has eaten into their reserves. "We had savings set aside for a down payment on a house, and we have had to go through that -- it's to the point where we have nothing left." Her 10-year-old son's dreams of being an Olympic gymnast may even be lost. Her son Jaelin practices gymnastics 22 hours a week, and is a straight-A student, his mother said. Kinney said she dreads the conversation that's coming. "I am going to have to go to my son and tell him, 'I know you have put your life into this, but I can no longer pay for it.' " But she pledges to keep wearing her T-shirt -- and to keep innovating if that doesn't work. "I have a couple of things in mind," she said. "It will be something no one else has done before." Kinney said she chooses coffee bars and intersections because they are places where she can find a captive audience -- prospective employers stuck waiting for lattes or red lights. Some people have called her "gimmick" really clever; others ask if she feels ashamed, she said. Kinney is tenacious. While the T-shirt idea is her latest promotion, she also posted her resume on her car window and sent postcards to potential employers -- all in the hope one will believe in her. "If I can sell myself this well, I can sell your company this well as well," she said. She said she has had offers. One was pulled after the employer said they thought she was over-qualified, she said. She rejected a marketing assistant position paying about California's $8-an-hour minimum wage, because the pay was too low. "I have a family; I can't take a $10-an-hour job and still stay afloat." Her husband does have a job, but one salary is not enough to cover the high cost of living in California for a family of three, she said. And it has eaten into their reserves. "We had savings set aside for a down payment on a house, and we have had to go through that -- it's to the point where we have nothing left." Her 10-year-old son's dreams of being an Olympic gymnast may even be lost. Her son Jaelin practices gymnastics 22 hours a week, and is a straight-A student, his mother said. Kinney said she dreads the conversation that's coming. "I am going to have to go to my son and tell him, 'I know you have put your life into this, but I can no longer pay for it.' " But she pledges to keep wearing her T-shirt -- and to keep innovating if that doesn't work. "I have a couple of things in mind," she said. "It will be something no one else has done before."

What are your thoughts on her idea? If you were doing it differently, then how? let's hear it!